The “2017 State of Account-Based Marketing Survey” from #FlipMyFunnel discovered that the percentage of B2B marketers who said they used account-based marketing (ABM) increased from 49 to 81 percent over the past 12 months, but why?

In 2017, nearly half of B2B marketers said that their primary goal was to generate revenue. To gain more insight into how this may have changed and why ABM is growing in prominence among marketers, we spoke to Brianna Watts, content coordinator for #FlipMyFunnel.

Why do you think B2B marketers are investing significantly more in ABM in 2017?

“According to the #FlipMyFunnel State of ABM Survey, 49 percent of B2B marketers were practicing ABM in 2016. That number has significantly increased to 81 percent for 2017. The main reasons for this increase can be attributed to the realization of B2B marketers that lead generation just doesn’t work as effectively as it seems.

“Forrester research shows that less than 1 percent of leads turn into customers. Additionally, the widespread praise of ABM by practitioners who are successfully practicing the new approach has helped B2B marketers jump on the ABM train. With buy-in from major influencers and organizations like Scott Brinker, HubSpot, Marketo, and more, investing in ABM was bound to increase in 2017.”

How is ABM helping with sales and marketing alignment?

“There is no ABM without sales and marketing alignment – the two go hand in hand. ABM promotes sales and marketing alignment by showing how the two should function as one ‘smarketing’ team that rallies around shared goals with targeted and personalized messages to best fit accounts versus two separate departments.”

What can marketers do to trim the amount of time it takes for them to see an ROI from their ABM efforts?

“Ensuring that their ABM implementation is solid and well-planned weighs a lot heavier than the amount it takes for results and ROI to show. The results will come but fine tuning your plan will pretty much guarantee success.”

Why are less marketers ‘advanced’ in ABM this year compared to 2016?

“This may be due to a shift in confidence in ABM implementation. ABM is an ever-changing industry and as new technologies, tools and processes are born, marketers may have to revamp their approaches to stay abreast.”

What was the most interesting statistic/finding in the report to you?

“All of the statistics were interesting in their own way, but the finding that was most telling to me was with over 80 percent of practitioners proving that 1-to-1 email outreach is still the number one tool used to engage target accounts. With so many strides being made in the advancement of video and social media as engagement tools, email continues to show that it’s tried and true when it comes to engagement.”

ABOUT BRIANNA WATTS

Brianna Watts is the content coordinator for #FlipMyFunnel. She uses her role as the “content DJ” to rotate between contributed blog posts, podcasts, webinars about all things account-based for the #FlipMyFunnel community. ​Connect with Brianna on Twitter and LinkedIn.

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